


That's why you shouldn't hear other people's conversations

by sarcastic_fangirl01



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Complete, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, but dirk still loves him, dirk is so cute too, todd is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 19:57:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13771416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcastic_fangirl01/pseuds/sarcastic_fangirl01
Summary: "Todd was really confused about what Dirk needed to ask his sister that required him not being in the room, or that was until Dirk put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small blue velvet box. As his sister opened both her eyes and her mouth in surprise, he tried to make no sound while falling to the floor."Or in which Todd knows Dirk will propose and freaks out.





	That's why you shouldn't hear other people's conversations

Days like today were really rare. And as someone who has traveled in time and saw alternative universes, when Todd says something is rare, he _totally_ means it.  His sister wasn’t really fond of the idea of letting the Rowdies alone for so long, but once in a while, she would make the sacrifice to spend an afternoon with him. Sometimes it was a quality time in a coffee shop or a bar, sometimes just a comfortable meeting in his apartment. And when what happened, Dirk would usually join them, excited to share with Amanda the stories of new cases they had solved.

For that reason, it was really suspicious for him hearing such a silence coming from the living room. Todd dried his hands and open slightly the door of his bathroom. Well, _their_ bathroom. After months of properly dating―hand-holding and public kisses included―Dirk had finally moved to his apartment, making it easier for them to not say goodbye after the nights they would spend sleeping together. When Todd casually proposed the idea, Dirk was extremely confused.

They were watching a Disney movie (one Dirk found _“terribly cute and oh my God Todd we should watch it again”_ ) when the thought came to him. He took his hand, movement already natural in the couple so it went by unnoticed by his boyfriend. When the words appeared in his mind he wasn’t conscious he was saying them out loud.

“You should stay here."

"I will," he said, not even taking his eyes off the screen.

"I mean... you should _move_ here."

Dirk froze. Even the finger stroking naturally his hand stopped. Todd started wondering if he made the wrong move when Dirk paused the movie on the computer. He faced him, mouth open, but didn’t talk until a few awkward seconds had passed.

“Do you-” his eyes were focused on his hands this time, avoiding Todd’s face, “-do you… really want me living here?”

Todd felt the relief filling his chest as he pressed his lips against Dirk’s knuckles.

“Of course I do.”

Dirk gave him an awkward smile while clicking play on the computer again, the important decision taken seconds ago going unnoticed except for the comforting applied pressure in Todd’s hand.

Now, Dirk was sitting in one of their armchair with his back to where Todd was hiding, speaking in a really low voice Todd wouldn’t be able to hear if he weren’t paying attention. Amanda, who always preferred the sofa for its “better comfort”, was listening to him with a serious face.

“…so this was important enough to ask for a second opinion so I thought that given your closeness with the person in question you were a more than an excellent option to…”

“Alright, sure,” she hurried him. “Show me it.”

Todd was really confused about what Dirk needed to ask his sister that required him not being in the room, or that was until Dirk put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small blue velvet box. As his sister opened both her eyes and her mouth in surprise, he tried to make no sound while falling to the floor.

Was that a ring? It had to be a ring, that would explain why Dirk didn’t want him there. And of fucking course he would ask Amanda about it, she is his fucking sister. Alright, maybe he was freaking out a little bit. He tried to calm himself down, and keep listening to what was going on in the living room.

“…and according to several pages on the internet, this is the Next Step we should take.”

“Dude,” Amanda laughed, “You are overreacting, and it’s not a big deal if you really think about it.”

 _Well speak for yourself, sis_ he wanted to say.

“This has some weight for me. It means… we are _a whole thing_ ,” Dirk stated, his tone going serious this time. “I just don’t want to screw it.”

Todd couldn’t see him, but he could certainly know he was fidgeting with his hands. Every time he had to talk about Todd and his relationship he tended to get really nervous, whether it was with another person or even with Todd himself.

Amanda put a hand on top of his and gave him a reassuring smile.

“He will love the idea. Don’t worry weirdo.”

Todd wasn’t really sure about that.  It’s not that he didn’t love Dirk. He did, and in a way he wasn't expecting when they started dating. The real problem was in him. Todd wasn’t sure they were ready for marriage. Dirk had this problem of always wanting to do things at their maximum level, which always drove Todd crazy when they were in a particularly dangerous case, but their relationship required taking more time than that.

For now, things were going well between them. They had argued sometimes, but nothing they couldn’t fix with a heart to heart chat and some kisses in reward. Everything was exactly how it was intended to be.

Todd knew how the Universe worked. When he wanted to go faster, when he intended to do something out of line, relationships, projects, even jobs went to hell in about days.

And, as much as Dirk, he didn’t want to screw it.

So gathering all the strength he could, he left the refuge he made in the bathroom and tried to act as if nothing happened. Dirk received him with a big smile and changed the subject to whatever case he could be telling Amanda. And eventually, Todd forgot about the matter.

Until a day later.

They were walking in the park for no reason at all. Some days Dirk had this weird hunches like “Let’s go to this exact coffee shop down the street”, “We need to buy this unnecessary thing” or “Let’s go have a walk on the park at 12 am”.  Every time Todd followed his lead in case it was some Universe desire, but most of the times he thought it was just the detective taking advantage of his not-psychic powers.

However, this time he couldn’t complain. Even though the sun was melting his brain, he was laughing at an incredible and improbable story of Dirk’s time at Cambridge back in London, his hand intertwined with Todd’s and his mouth curved into a smile that Todd found completely endearing.

They stopped walking at some point, in a place that was surprisingly lonely. Just a few children playing far from them. Todd had to lean in a lamppost for the laughter, and Dirk took the opportunity to lean in, getting his hands inside of Todd’s jacket.

“Are you telling me you _really_ had to empty a _whole_ barrel of beer to get the right for an exam?”

“Yes, and let me tell you it wasn’t one of my favourite parts of college,” but the fond smile on his face made it hard to believe.

Todd loved these moments, in where Dirk shared a part of his past that wasn’t horrible or gave him desires of going an commit murder. Dirk had expressed before how happy he was to share his memories with him, and seeing the shine on his expression while doing so―or at least when they were good memories―made him want to kiss him. He was thinking exactly about that when Dirk seemed to have a better idea.

“You know, I’ve been thinking…”

“A dangerous past time.”

Dirk narrowed his eyes and Todd chuckled against his chest. He was still there when Dirk kept talking.

“As I was saying, before your unnecessary rude interruption, I’ve been thinking about something. Something important. Like, relationship important…”

Todd opened his eyes. Shit, the proposal. He didn’t think Dirk was going to bring it up that soon. And Todd definitely didn’t want to break his heart with a no, yet he had to do something.

He hated lying to him, but that was the first option that came to his head.

“…so maybe you could help me in this decision and tell me if you would…”

“I feel bad,” he mumbled leaning back against the lamppost.

“What?” Dirk raised his eyebrows in concern.

“I feel dizzy…”

“Are you having an attack?” Dirk started looking for his pills before Todd stopped him.

“No, I just…”

He fake-stumbled to his side, feeling immediately Dirk’s hands at both of his shoulders. The next thing he knew, Dirk was hugging him trying to keep him standing. He felt terrible for that. Even more when he saw the panicked expression on his face. Dirk always had problems when trying to help people. Due to his little knowledge about taking care of others, when something bad happened to them he tended to get anxious while trying to help.

“E-everything’s fine, you’re okay, I’m here with you.”

“Can we please just go home?”

“Y-yes, sure. Home, right now.”

Maybe there was another way to get rid of the Big Question, one that didn’t involve Dirk stuttering every sentence. Out of guilt, Todd tried to make it up for him and kissed him softly on his cheek. Dirk stopped his rambling.

“Thanks,” he murmured. “I love you.”

“Me too.”

Thanks to that disastrous episode, the rest of the day resulted in Todd doing whatever task possible for him to be busy enough to have the minor possible interaction with his boyfriend. He could see it hurt him in some way, but at the same time, he couldn’t help it. Perhaps, if he continued with the farce, at some point Dirk would renounce his plans to marry him.

What he couldn’t avoid was the nighttime. When midnight was close and his eyes were begging him to rest he realized he had to go to bed at some point. With Dirk. He decided to solve it by waiting for the Brit to go to sleep first and following him only when he was already asleep. And that worked pretty well, he had to admit.

Until the morning after. Everything was quiet when he opened his eyes. The sun was entering for the barely opened curtains, giving everything in their bedroom a yellow-ish light, even the person right in front of him. Dirk’s arm was loosely hugging his waist, Todd’s own hand resting on Dirk’s chest. Their legs were tangled at the end of the bed. He could feel a warm wave coming from his partner that vanished any wish in Todd of leaving the bed.

He took a time to look at him. Dirk’s eyes were closed, his eyelashes catching the light coming from the window. He sighed. How did this man to have so delicate eyelashes? Todd found himself wondering if they would break if he touched them. His sight fell to Dirk’s lips when he parted them to give a small sigh in his sleep. Todd thought he wasn’t aware of it since Dirk kept his eyes closed and didn’t make another move, so he kept staring at the tranquilizing scene in front of him.

“Y’know you could kiss me” Dirk whispered out of a sudden. “Instead of just looking, I mean.”

“Thought you were asleep.” Todd came even closer, being able to smell Dirk’s scent from the Mexican Funeral t-shirt he used as pj’s.

“No. You move too much when you wake up.”

Todd wasn’t exactly a morning person. He hated waking up to the sound of a clock alarm, he definitely needed a cup of coffee before treating with important things and most of all he hated having to leave the comfort of his sheets to start with his day.

The problem was, Dirk wasn’t much of a morning-lover either. Todd didn’t know why, but after two months of sharing the apartment, he discovered Dirk’s routine had a relaxed timing. Anything too sudden that happened before he considered it appropriate could stress him for a while until things got calmer again.

This presented a problem when work got involved, even Farah has talked to them about the importance of getting early, but that didn’t seem to stop them from their lazy awakenings. Dirk was making patterns with his fingertips on Todd’s back erasing immediately his thoughts about the Agency when he talked again.

“Do you feel better from yesterday?”

The lying? Not really.

“Yes, it must’ve been something of the park.”

“Well… when that happened I was trying to tell you something.”

Dirk took his arm off his back and extended it to the bedside table while he spoke. Suddenly Todd felt more awake. What could he do now? Dirk wouldn’t believe the dizziness thing again. He had to think fast about something to shut his mouth.

“I was wondering if you would like to… hmph.”  
Todd was as surprised as Dirk when his lips collided violently. He tried to speak again, but Todd stopped him by applying a bit of tongue to the matter. The discomfort in both was palpable. Todd knew Dirk would find this too abrupt for the time it was, but the realization came to him when he was in the middle of it. He was feeling extremely conscious of the situation, which didn’t help that much. And when Dirk pushed him to the other side of the bed, swollen lips and raised eyebrows, any excuse that could work for him at that moment quickly escaped.

“Todd, what the hell?”

Dirk was expecting an answer. He trespassed a line, a line he knew very well. But as the words seemed to abandon him, he limited himself to shrug. Dirk’s eyes were filled with something he couldn’t figure out but made his heart feel like if it was being crushed.

“I-I need the bathroom.” He muttered under his breath.

And as soon as he finished saying the words, Dirk disappeared into the door. Todd collapsed on the bed, covering his eyes with his arm. He had to manage his responses from now, or instead of dropping the idea of the proposal, Dirk would decline for dropping _him_ instead.

The rest of the morning seemed disconnected at that moment though. When Dirk got out of the bathroom, he was acting as cheerful and smiley as any other day. Except Todd knew it was fake because every time a part of him came in contact with Dirk he seemed to jump in the opposite direction. Anyway, that served as an excuse for Todd to avoid Dirk more easily. During his shift at the agency, even though Dirk remained at his desk for eight hours, Todd kept himself busy with work he wouldn’t otherwise do and approached his partner only when he required it.

Farah seemed to notice the tension between them because, after a while, she decided to take a fifteen minutes break and go for coffee and tea for all the team. The office filled with silence, except for the ticking of the cat-clock Mona decided she could be that day. As time passed, Todd found it harder and harder not to look at Dirk. He dared a glance. He was resting his cheek on his hand, watching bored at whatever was on his computer screen. Todd sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he let out, eyes locked on the ceiling. Dirk cocked his head, lifting his eyebrows in an innocent way. Todd rolled his eyes. “About early today. I know you don’t like that stuff, I’m trying to apologize here.”

“Ok,” he smiled.

Todd narrowed his eyes. _It couldn’t be that easy_ , he thought. But the smile faded seconds after the statement. Dirk opened his mouth and closed it, apparently changing his mind. Something was clearly wrong if Dirk couldn’t say it in words. For someone with no verbal filter as Dirk, saying things you didn’t want to or expect to hear isn’t precisely difficult. Todd could read the conflict on his face.

“What are you thinking about?” he tried to help him.

Dirk stared at him, confused for a moment about the words. Then he licked his lips and took a deep breath. God this had to be important.

“Are we fine?”

Wait what?

“What do you mean?”

“Like… is everything fine between us?”

“Yes, I just… look,” he got closer to him, sitting on his desk, “what I did this morning was wrong. I know you enough to know I trespassed some kind of boundary. But that doesn’t mean anything’s wrong between us.”

"Are you sure about that?"

"Completely," he smiled at him.

“Great,” Dirk’s lips curved slightly with that word. “Then I want to ask you another question.”

“Of course. What’s it about?”

“Well,” Dirk seemed to get excited again and when his hand went to his pocket, Todd knew what question that was going to be, “when the… thing happened, I wanted to know if you would…”

The doors opened, attracting their attention. Farah had three carton cups and a bag presumably with donuts inside. Todd went immediately to help her with it, ending with the conversation and leaving a frustrated Dirk still sit in his chair.

Fortunately for Todd, the situation stayed that way for a long time. Although, while Dirk dropped his strange attitude, Todd kept a safe distance from him with the exception that this time it didn't seem to be hurting the detective. That was reason enough to let his nerves rest for some time and forget about the matter.

After a successful day of strategic balance between escaping uncomfortable situations and being sure he wasn’t completely abandoning Dirk, they were both having a Netflix marathon of Sense8 on the couch of their apartment. They were both sit on opposite sides with their legs tangled in the middle. Todd was so focused on the show that he almost fell when Dirk gasped and exclaimed: “We need to go to a fancy restaurant!”

Todd looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Dirk’s face was lit with enthusiasm, eyes wide open, toothy smile and eyebrows lifted. Another of his hunches, he supposed. He opened his mouth to say yes when a scene displayed in his mind.

Dirk and him, sit in an elegant place. Dirk, kneeling on one knee with the ring in his hand. Todd saying the damn word. Dirk’s expression saddening at every second. Tears. Arguing. Bad, really bad.

“No.”

“C’mon, Todd, it would be wonderful. Even funny! I promise, we could…”

“No,” he said strictly. “I wanna stay here tonight.”

“But, Todd…” the pleading tone and the puppy eyes were making it really hard.

“I said no.” The rough tone in his voice made Dirk back off, his expression seeming hurt. “Just today, okay? You can choose the takeout.”

“Fine…” Dirk didn’t seem happy. He stood up and took the phone, “Chinese is okay for you, Mr. Grumpy?”

“Yes… I love you.”

“Mhm,” his boyfriend went to the kitchen to order.

During dinner, he tried to make it up for him. At first, Dirk seemed resistant to let himself go, but after a while, they were laughing and smiling as any other day. Even better he would say. Dammit, this really required a lot of effort from him.

They were currently discussing something Dirk was reading in the office that morning when it happened. He got distracted a second. Just a second. And then he saw Dirk kneeling right beside him.

“Dirk!” he exclaimed.

“What?” Dirk got scared by the sudden noise.

A chopstick. He was holding a chopstick. It must've fallen at some time and he just went to pick it up. Todd felt stupid. Feeling his neck, cheeks, and ears warming up he mumbled an excuse. Dirk sat down, left the chopstick on the table and crossed his arms over his chest.

“We have to talk.”

Todd almost choked, and although Dirk seemed worried for a second, when he could breathe again he went back to his solid expression.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Why are you acting so… cold these days?”

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Dirk sighed. Todd realized that that had happened more frequently between them during the last week.

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot, and your behavior is really weird. You have been avoiding me for a long time. Don’t you dare to lie to me this time!” he hurried to say raising an accusatory finger when Todd opened his mouth. “I know you’ve been doing that lately.”

“That’s not true,” he tried to defend himself.

“The other day, in the park. When you were supposedly sick you got better the second we got home.”

“It could've been just a cold.”

Dirk rolled his eyes―which would’ve seemed kinda cute for him if they were in a different situation.

“Right, then, the morning after. The thing you did was quite odd coming from you.”

“I… I missed you. That day.”

“Ok, firstly, we’ve been in the same building all day,” he started counting with his fingers. Todd couldn’t give an answer for that. “Secondly, I must remember you who’s been avoiding who. And thirdly, if you missed me that much, then why did you escape from me the whole day at the agency.”

“I didn’t,” he crossed his arms too. “I was…working.”

“Too much if we’re being honest which, by the way, you clearly aren’t.”

“Is it bad that I want to do my job?” he claimed in defense.

“We don’t have any work right now!” he cried exasperated, extending his hands in front of him.

“Well, maybe I wanted to find something to work on.”

“But that is _my_ work. I am the… wait” he stopped to think, “ No, I’m not a psychic, but you definitely aren’t either!” Dirk let himself fall in the chair again. “And now I suggest going to a restaurant because I want to spend a good time with you, and you get all angry and grumpy and…”

He stopped mid-sentence. Todd saw how his shoulders fell. The next time he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper which could be heard over the crushing silence.

“Did-did I do something wrong? Is that it?”

He knew that stupid habit Dirk had about blaming himself for the bad things that happened around him. And he couldn’t let himself let Dirk do that. Todd stood up and made Dirk do the same. His eyes were tired, and Todd could see it. All the time overthinking his actions, the wondering about what’s been doing wrong, the self-doubt he himself was so used to hear in his head.

“It’s nothing about that. It’s more about me.”

“What about you?” his brows drew together.

His anxiety took control of his voice.

“I know, okay?” he cried out, “I already know.”

“What?” he snapped back.

“The thing!” his arms opened in desperation.

“What thing?!” he was raising his hands too.

“The thing you’ve been trying to tell me all the week!”

Dirk seemed to begin to understand.

“Oh… How did you…?” he closed his eyes. “You heard me talking with Amanda, right?”

He nodded with a shrug in a way he hoped meant ‘I’m sorry’.

“That’s what been upsetting you?”

“Yes… look. It’s not that I don’t wanna do it with you,” he explained taking his hands, “I just don’t wanna do it _now_. I don’t think we are ready for that yet.”

Dirk looked surprised by his answer. "Okay...I'm sorry I didn't think it was _that_ important for you."

“Well…” he tilted his head.

“…I mean if I knew that sharing a gift would stress you like this I wouldn’t have bought it in the first place.”

Todd's brain was pure static for a few minutes.

“Wait… what are you talking about?”

“What are _you_ talking about?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“Dirk,” Todd began to feel a little embarrassed, “what is _exactly_ the thing you’ve been trying to tell me?”

“I-” he began, but stopped as fast as he started and went to their bedroom. When he came back, the famous box was on his hand. And he extended it to him with that fucking innocent expression on his face.

“Are you sure…?”

“Just open it,” he demanded.

Todd took it fast, not wanting to upset him. With a little knot in his throat, he opened the box and saw… a necklace. A delicate silver necklace. It was nice but didn’t seem exactly the kind of thing you give to your partner for a compromise.

Unless…

“What is this?”

“The gift. For Farah. Her birthday is in a few days, and I thought we could give her a couple gift.”

“A…couple gift?”

He couldn’t believe it.

“Well yes,” Dirk started his rambling, “I read on the Internet that it was A Thing some couples do, and I thought it was really cute. And since it’s been more than four months we’ve been dating, six to be exact, and now I even live in your flat, a couple gift would be the next step. Of course, you don’t have to do it, obligatory I mean. If you want we can go an buy something else to…”

“Wait… this is what I’ve been stressing about for a whole week?”

“Pfft of course,” it seemed obvious to him. “What else could it be?”

Maybe it was the silence or the way he was staring at the box or just a holistic thing, but something in Todd gave Dirk the exact answer. He looked amused as he opened his mouth.

“No… Really? You thought I was going to propose to you?”

“Well, the box and the secrets and…”

“No, wait,” he wasn’t going to let it pass that easy and suddenly Todd wanted to punch him. “You thought _I_ was going to propose? ‘Cause let’s be honest Todd, if one of us was going to do the marriage thing I’m completely sure it would be you.”

“Okay, now I know I don’t have to expect anything sweet from you again.”

Dirk giggled, and Todd could physically feel a burden lifting from his shoulders. Dirk cupped his face in his hands and leaned in until their noses were rubbing each other.

“I really can’t believe you.” He laughed.

And then he kissed him, the smile still stuck on his lips. Todd left the box on the table and let his hands rest on Dirk’s shoulders. When the taller man broke the contact he wrapped his arms around him in a soft hug. Todd found his favorite place on Dirk’s neck and breathed.

“But you have to admit it’s not a bad idea.”

“Hmm?”

“Marriage. Not now, of course. It would be somewhat inappropriate, given the recent events. But, who knows, maybe in the future…”

“Yeah,” he looked at him. “It would be nice.”

He gave a glance at the box still on the table.

“When did you say was Farah’s birthday?”

“On Monday.”

“Mmm, well that’s a problem.” He stared back at him.

“Why?” his eyebrows snapped together.

“The date it’s too close… I don’t think I can buy a gift.”

Dirk didn’t seem to understand. Todd rolled his eyes.

“Do you think you can share your gift with me?”

Dirk’s lips formed an unspoken “oh”. Then the corners of his mouth quirked up.

“Of course… I knew it” he added later.

Todd shook his head in disbelief. It might drive him crazy sometimes, but he certainly loved that idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> This was really fun to write, and when I got the idea in my mind I could actually see it being displayed by this dorks.  
> Anyway, you know it's already late when you start confusing the words fell and felt over and over again... but still worth it.  
> I will appreciate if you leave kudos or a comment with your thoughts.  
> Thank you, hope you enjoyed it <3


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